Speechless
by written-at-summer-sunset
Summary: AU: 'It's not that she doesn't want to speak; it's just no one else wants her to.' For most of her sophmore year, she was tormented because of her voice. When she finally meets the one person whose willing to let her speak, Bree's too afraid of doing so. Five-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello lovely readers. This idea came to me when I was a reading **_**to be forever young**_**'s Kickin' It story, All I Need, which you should totally check out, by the way. This is going to be either a three or five-shot, but I'm leaning toward five.**

* * *

It's taken him a week or so of seeing her to know he's in love. Something about that seems wrong as runs that fact over and over again in his head. He can't help it- she's so mesmerizing that he fell in love, even from a distance. Fussy feelings pang in the back of his head, insisting no one is so perfect- flawless- like she appears to be.

"Does she always sit alone?"

Leo looks to his step-brother's target of sight. "Bree?" he supplies with a shake of his head. "Not always, Janelle sits with her sometimes."

Chase leans forward, his tray abandoned and untouched, the food chilling in the humid cafeteria. "Interesting..."

The smaller boy ignores the other's intense look to the brunette beauty across the room, bent over in an eerie focus. Instead, Leo greets his girl-friend-with-benefits with an eager, "Hey!"

Janelle gives a short wave of her hand and motions to Chase. "What's up with you?" she smirks. "You look as out of it as Adam." Chase shoots her a look before groaning.

"I can't help it," her mutters, "she keeps doing this to me."

His friend follows his pointing finger and smiles when she sees he means Bree. "I think she'd like you. Just go over there, Frankengenius."

"What if she doesn't like me?" Chase sucks in and releases the air noisily.

Janelle rolls her eyes, noting his nervous vibe. "You have nothing to worry about," she concludes, jerking him out his seat roughly and spiking up his hair. Chase glares, but she smiles mockingly. "Go on, Hun, she's harmless."

Chase shakes her prodding hands out of his hair and nervously glances back at them before mentally slapping himself, putting one foot in front of the other. Janelle sees his trouble and pushes him roughly, the boy stumbling nearly into the brunette beauty's table. Chase catches his breath and shoots daggers at his table mates, only to have them motion at him.

He turns and can't breathe.

It's because of her-she's staring at him. Up close, Chase sees they're an amazing brown and shine brightly. Like stars, he muses to himself. Her slender hand clutches his own, helping him sit the chair next to her.

He can't believe he even made this far.

"Uh, hey," Chase greets, hoping for a good response. No one has ever let him get it out before and as she waves back, his heart swells with such a pleasant feeling, he fears he might explode. "You're Bree, right?"

She nods again and flashes her right palm: _Yes._

Chase pauses, unsure of what to say next. Unsure if she can even say anything back. "Can you talk?" he asks softly, making a gesture to lower his voice.

Bree bits her lip and glances everywhere except at him, unwilling to meet his eyes. Then she stops and flashes her right palm again: _Yes._

Chase's about to say something else (not that he knows what it is) but is glad that she stops him by grabbing a small pad out of her pocket with a pen. Bree tips down hiding her message then revealing the neatly scrawled in the lines.

_Your name is Chase, right?_

Chase looks up at her from the notebook to see her biting her lip nervously, blinking innocently with a faint blush tinting her cheeks a shade darker. He smiles and grabs her right hand, leaning close. He slips it up so she can see the fading word: _Yes._

Bree smiles in relief that he hasn't walked away yet. That he isn't yelling hurtful phrases or prying in too deep. Chase is still leaning close, his breath coming out in warm calming puffs on her cheek.

"I think," he whispers so only she can hear, "This is going to be a beautiful friendship."

Bree beams at him as he pulls away, Chase doing the same. She grabs her pad and scribbles again.

_Of course it's going to be a beautiful friendship, I'm in it._

Chase laughs and shakes his head, staring at her such a way that makes her heart thump and face flush.

From a distance, Janelle smacks Leo shoulder hard. "Why couldn't you have been like that?" she scowls, glaring at him over the top of his magazine.

Leo shrugged. "I will not be turned into a sap."

…

Her heart is pumping. Pleasure spikes up and down her spine. Bree flips and gazes out her window happily. It's all because of him-her makes her feel so incredibly elated and she knows it's all because of him.

_Chase._

She closes her eyes and wills her body to sink into her bed's soft sheets, imagining him down to the very last detail. His intelligent brown eyes send tingles down her arms and Bree doesn't want this feeling to end.

Unfortunately, it will, Bree knows it will. The same amazing heart pounding rushes faded into her fantasy again with the last boy she let in. _Chase isn't Ethan; _she lectures herself firmly, hoping the words are true. He's hung around this long and hasn't done anything. Yet.

Bree blinks once…twice…three times before keeping them shut and twisting again. She murmurs into her pillow, checking to see if it's still there. Still there under her heavy vow of silence.

Relief floods her core. It's okay now, it's still resting under the silence. A weak trickle of fear and shame contrast with the relief, churning badly in her stomach. Bree peek a cautious eye open, reassuring she's alone. She's the only one to her voice.

…

Chase is supposed to know everything. He's been raised on that his entire life.

And he does know everything. Everything but her: Bree. Something about her draws him closer, making his body react in the slightest tingles so foreign it scares him with that odd mixture of excitement that makes him crave this feeling more than he should.

Rain soothes his thoughts. Chase follows that naturally calm beat with a pencil, tapping away on his desk. Bree was different, flawless, he decides surely. Her silence pulls him in, reeling the two together.

That has to be it, Chase realizes suddenly. Bree is silent, innocent even, something no one considers carefully. The rain grows fainter and fainter as he continues thinking. There has to be a reason why. When Bree and Chase hung out the first week, he chalked it up to voice loss or a mild sickness of some sort-nothing to worry about. He grew comfortable with her communication techniques watching her closely while they studied together or hung out at their place-the small jazz café downtown by the library.

The second week was when his curiosity almost slipped from his control, Chase nearly bombarding her with questions he eagerly wanted answers to. It's this week, the third week-the lucky number, he notes- that Chase is going to talk to her about it, whether or not she talks back.

Slipping on a jacket, Chase scribbles a quick note out on a Post It, promising he'll have his phone and he's not going far. Chase stands tall, running a nervous hand through his hair before bounding out of his bedroom. He's almost positive that this isn't going to go well. For who- he doesn't know.

Leo watches him from his spot on couch, focusing away from his cartoon for a minute or so, shaking his head as Chase walks out the door.

_His relationship better be better than me and Janelle's. _

…

_This is where we had our first study date._

Chase feels his face flush, admiring Bree confidence in classifying it as a date. It was, the two being alone, studying for a huge math test with matching steaming coffees and listening to the jazz band that played there every day.

He chuckles, taking her hand in his own. "Yeah, it was."

Bree blushes, smiling as the waitress set down their orders. A comfortable silence settles between the two, and Bree can't help but play her game. It's a silly game, she admits, counting a certain color car that goes by, but this week, the color is purple. She gets to four before the jazz bands start the next set.

Chase smiles as he catches Bree tapping along, wondering if she'd be humming too. As the jazz band continues, ringing through the quiet building soothingly, Chase looks her straight in the eye. "You know can tell me anything right?"

She stops, her fingers frozen in mid-tap. Bree swiftly nods, clicking her pen and writing quickly.

_I'll tell, just not today. Give me time, I promise I'll tell you when I'm ready._

Bree bites her lips, unsure what to label his question as. He isn't prying, or asking too much. She gives up finally, slinking further down into the soft, cushy seats. Flashing her eyes over, Chase meets her gaze and has the pad in front of him. He'd gotten her a new one earlier this week, after her mentioning her old one was almost officially done for.

"I don't want to push you," Chase seems to whisper, catching her attention. "I just want you to feel safe around me; it will stay between us."

The brunette hesitantly writes underneath her last message.

_Thank you. I do trust you. Do you trust me?_

Chase stands, and fear clutches Bree tightly, preparing for him to yell at her, scream and cuss before walking away in disgust- just like the last guy. Instead, he softly takes her hand and pulls her from the booth, leading her near the stage. Slowly, they wrap around each other, swaying to the beat. Bree places her head on Chase's shoulder, swearing to herself she saw the band member wink at the two. Blushing, she buries her face into Chase's shoulder, hiding her face.

"I need to tell you something," Chase whispers quietly, his breathe tickling her ear. Bree pulls away slightly, their foreheads touching. She blinks up at him, encouraging him forward. "I love you- so, so, much."

He holds his breath. She widens her eyes and fumbles with her hands feeling his hopeful gaze. Bree finally looks up, praying she remembers it right. Silently, she pulls one of her hands away, raising her thumb, index finger, and pinky so her middle fingers lay against palm.

Chase smiles broadly as she holds her gesture out in front of him, grinning up at him shyly.

_I love you._

…

It is a few weeks after the confessions that Bree finds herself sitting alone in the kitchen with her dad out on business, when the whole house shakes. She jumps, heart rate speeding up and glancing fearfully at the door, the doorframe still vibrating and she fears the door will rock straight off the hinges from the impeccable force- an excited Janelle.

The curly headed girl races towards her, smiling crazily. She stops abruptly, shaking a newspaper in front of her. She gasps, panting in excitement, "Oh my God! You'll never believe this!"

Bree leans back, eyeing her friend warily as she slowly takes the slightly crinkly paper, scanning the open page. The headline is what truly catches her by surprise, her breathe stopping in her throat before she sobs in relief. The newspaper slips from her shaking hands, Janelle hugging her while jumping up and down, leading them both to the couch.

TEENAGER ARRESTED AT MISSION CREEK HIGH SCHOOL

The brunette leans back against the couch, letting out cracking sobs and choppy laughter. It feels good to laugh, Bree realizes with a grin. And it feels even better to know she can do as much laughing as she wants freely now-no more hiding in fear.

_He's gone, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, and he's gone._

The mantra continues to play in her head as Bree and Janelle skim the abandon article, tears streaming down their face but laughter shining brightly in the room.

* * *

**I wanted this to be longer, but I didn't want to give too much and not give you guys enough, so this is what I came up with. I think it's pretty good for what I thought it was going to be. Hopefully the next one will be longer and come sooner.**

**Reviews are very much appreciated. :P**


	2. Chapter 2

**The reviews I got for the last chapters were crazy! I wasn't expecting nearly that much, so thank you. Hopefully, this one gets the same amount of reviews and compliments. Ready and enjoy!**

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The nightmares string along slowly. Bree needs to tell someone – to get some real sleep. She hadn't been real concerned at first, the beginning seeming normal. Then they were getting darker – oh God, it brings pain to even think about them – and sometimes all she can remember is waking up screaming.

Chase is killing her. Bree sees his worried looks, the way his eyes burnt holes into her when she lies to him – she absolutely hates lying to him. She doesn't know whether or not she can call it lying anymore, he's obviously seen through them.

It's on a rainy Thursday morning just after second period that everything drops. Bree's aware of her legs dragging on, Chase clutching her hand as they walk to their lockers, before her vision blurs.

Somebody yells her name, quick hands catching her before she slams to the ground. Anxious calls; comforting gestures; calm whispers; loud, noisy, running footsteps.

Then it all goes black.

…

"Oh, thank God."

Bree blinks, scrunching her face up at the fierce headache panging behind her eyes. She turns her head to the side, desperate to block out the blinding light hanging above her. Soft hands grab her sides, Bree cringing before sinking into their touch – _his _touch.

Chase sighs in relief as Janelle lights up, yanking a surprised Leo into a bruising hug before pulling away just as fast. She instead swivels to Bree, shaking her head. "You scared the crap out of me."

Bree runs a hand along the stiff cot, frowning at how rock hard it is. Her fingers clutch the thin sheets, eyes closing as feather kisses drop onto her neck. She leans back, Chase's chest rumbling as he chuckles and pulls away.

Janelle coos at their position, patting Bree's shoulder and giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek before forcefully dragging Leo out of the infirmary.

Bree smiles for the time that morning, glancing around the room- trying to use the silence to look around the room. The school's infirmary isn't the best place – dull cots pushing into crooked lines, stained grey walls with boring medical posters peeling off.

"Not the greatest room," Chase's heart thumps when Bree slips out a tiny adorable giggle; that's the most sound he's ever heard her make. She tenses underneath him before relaxing into him again.

_He's gone…_

Her fingers fumble, barely managing to grasp her pad. _What happened?_

Chase sighs, smoothing her hair to the side and pulling their bodies closer together. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

Bree winces, flipping her left palm up: _No. _She feels his chest rise as he sighs – he seems to be doing a lot of that lately, she notes, biting her bottom lip until she's afraid it's bleeding. Suddenly a cold, bitter sweeps through her quickly. A sliver of warmth returns when Chase kisses her forehead, running a soothing hand down her arm.

"I'll be back later," he promises, tucking the sheets to her chin. With a single smile and a loving glance, he turns, exiting the room.

Unsure of what to do, the brunette leans on her arms. Staring up at the ceiling, licking her lips, noticing they are notably dry. Bree swings her legs over the side, a new dull energy igniting her limbs as she shuffles over to a fading poster. Her eyes skim the tiny paragraphs in boredom, unsure of what her next move will be.

Her thoughts drift to _him._

Bree gives an unwilling shudder, her arms wrapping around herself protectively. Chills travel up and down her spine, disappearing after she tucks herself under the stiff sheets again.

…

The room's lighter than she remembers. Blinking, Bree sits, eyeing the stray sun stretching against the far wall.

"Good morning, beautiful."

Bree jumps, facing a smiling Chase as he pecks her cheek. She smiles, raising her and tapping her wrist, hoping he's getting her message.

Chase smirks, gently leading her off the cot and toward the door. "An hour after school ended."

She stops, eye wide as she gaps at him. Furiously writing and shoving her pad into his face. _How long was I asleep for? What about my classes?_

Chase just shrugs, slinging an around her waist and shooting a smile to the nurse as they exit. "Don't worry about it," he assures, planting a kiss to her temple and ushering her outside. "You're teachers gave me the work you missed so we can go over it together. No big deal."

Bree smiles then quirks an eyebrow as he leads in her in the opposite direction. They've walked to her house plenty of times, unfortunately because neither has their license, but he couldn't have forgotten so soon, could he?

"Trust me," Chase chuckles deeply, looking down to meet her worried look. "We're just going to my house."

She lets out a quick breath in return, losing it again when they stop in front of a large house. It was huge- three sturdy stories tall and back grounded a mossy wood.

"Big, isn't it?" Chase leads her in, trying not to laugh at her gawking. Bree flashes her pad at him again. _Bigger than that._

"Oh, Sleeping Beauty awakens," Leo teases from the island, busy with his after school snack of a big bowl of chips.

Bree rolls her eyes and smacks his shoulder as they pass him, hearing him mumble incoherent sentences about girls and violence. Chase snickers at his step-brother, pressing his hand against her back and leading her down a sunnily lit hallway to the third door on the right…his bedroom.

They place everything in front of them, pencils sharp and papers blank. At least, Bree's side of the paper is blank. She blinks several times, trying to comprehend why Chase's hand seems to blur as he jumps from thing to thing, solving everything at once. Finally, she sighs in defeat, just dropping her pencil lazily and watching his hand speed away.

Chase looks up, breaking his trance, smirking at his girlfriend. "You know…" His words slip quieter as he leans close to her ear. "You're never going to learn anything if you don't try."

Bree pouts with her arms crossed over her chest, staring down at her pencil and Biology homework in complete confusion. She thinks she's made it perfectly clear she has no idea what she's doing. Her hand suddenly starts moving; the pencil making neat contact with the paper as Chase guides her through the questions thoroughly, making sure she can understand what they were going over.

Its two hours and twenty homework questions later that Bree's phone vibrates. She glances to Chase in apology as she flips it open and checks the screen. Seconds pass before Chase is given the phone.

_Hey, B. You and your boo wanna come to a party tonite? It's gonna be wild! ;)_

Chase simply shrugs, leaving it up to her, much to Bree's disappointment. She's never liked making decisions like this. A sigh drifts from her lips as she types away, only agreeing after another buzz saying Janelle is bringing Leo whether he likes it or not.

…

Teenagers feed off the pulsing lights and blasting music, bumping and grinding against each other as alcohol rcourses through their veins. Trash marks crossing trails, beer bottles cascading down a long staircase.

Bree feels her headache coming back as she leans against a vacant wall, watching everything with a bored stare. Tipsy girls in tiny dresses, drunken guys, drowning beer, stumble around, tripping around, over themselves. The dance floor (obviously a large den vacant of any furniture) isn't much better – couples bumping and grinding against each other, thin dresses rising and hot skin contact.

Chase had been dragged away from her by his other brother Adam ages ago and she hadn't bothered to go looking for him in fear of having a run-in with the wrong person. Janelle and Leo disappeared the minute they had arrived, Janelle squealing to him about "someone she's dying for him to meet".

Now her head is pounding, her nose recoiling in disgust from the horrid mixture of beer and various perfumes and colognes mingling together as much as everyone else. With a shake of her head she squeezes her way to the door, typing a quick message to Chase in hope that he'll pop up from somewhere.

With her hand grasping the doorknob, Bree looks up at the ceiling, watching it shake and vibrate along with the walls and doors. With a shudder she looks away (not even wanting to _think _about what they were doing upstairs). She hurries with slipping out the door and off the porch to the ssidewalk, not wanting to stay a minute longer. She'd timed how long it'd taken Janelle to drive here; the long walk home is worth it as long as she's as far away from here as possible.

"Where you going, Princess?"

Bree turns pale, her knees shaking in fear as she loses control of her limbs. Their words slur together, the alcohol tying with in perfectly with the venom.

The leader walks closer with his eyes in slit and fists shaking and white. "Leaving the party so soon? It's seems a lil' rude." His posse chuckles, their jersey numbers glaring right at her. His steps quicken, his hand soon clutching her forearm tightly in a vice grip. The other chuckle, backing up their leader as he throws her to the ground.

She feels memories hit her in a gruesome way of flashbacks, hitting her one by one as their breath makes her cringe and rough hands make her want to scream. Bree feels herself swaying as they push her from teammate to teammate, begging for her to let loose sounds of torture. She wants to scream, but her head is spinning and it catches in her throat, gruggling out to make an troubled noise.

Thrown – back and forth, forward and back until they slam her to the ground again, her head inches from the concrete. They laugh, drunken and insane while spewing insults that are resting in her brain. "This what you get! You messed with him, now we–mess with you." They snicker as she cowers in pain, trying to sheild herself in vain. "Trent would love seeing _you again_."

"What are you doing?"

The kicks and blows to her legs and stomach stop almost instanteously, their anger at her gone and an unlikely fear resting in its place. Bree pants, trying to regain the strength to look at her savior, only to have black spots dance in her view.

He walks closer, voice deep and gravelly, holding a high confidence that's hard to miss. "Back off," the mysterious guy growls, picking Bree up with ease. She instantly snuggles into him but disappointment flooding her when he sets her down a way off. The cold nipping at her again as she tries to locate the most damage they've done.

Yelps and holler make her jump in surprise. Bree looks up in shock when she sees the football team stumbling away from each other as the person straightens up and cracks there neck in approval.

_Oh dear God_, she shrieks in her mind.

The only thing that's different in the eyes. Instead of the warm, intelligent brown eyes she fell in love with, a cold, steely gray look down on her as she cradel her wrist to her chest.

Bree blinks, begging for the image to change, for his eyes to switch back and everything to be normal, but she's knows this isn't Chase. The silly tales and stories of Spike Janelle spilled to her were true. She whimpers, crawling backwards until she feels safe again, his hard breathing and tight fists.

Spike is melting away it seems. The scary gray she wants so desperately to disappear flicker and melt until the warm brown –Chase's brown– fills their place.

"Oh my God, Bree." Chase runs towards her, taking her body in his arms and kissing her in a fast fashion, being mindful of when she whimpers in pain. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Bree tries to give a decent nod only to have her head lag as the black spots increase and the pain becomes numb.

...

She's losing track of how many times darkness has washed over her. When she wakes up this time, Bree isn't feeling the pushing pricks of pain like she expects. Instead she sits up in a comfy bed– not her own, she realizes after seeing she's not even in her room– with her leg in a clean bandage and her cuts and bruises tended to.

The party hits her all at once as she stares around the familiar room. The hits and blows and kicks seem to act on her body again. Bree winces and holds her stomach, waiting for the memory to pass.

They never went back to her house. Or a hospital either, and she's glad she's not incased in a dreadful white room reeking of medicene.

Movement erputs next to her and Bree tenses, unsure of what to do. Finally, she sags back against the soft blankets and pillows.

Chase is sleeping next to her, holding her to his side with a protective arm. Bree's never seen his hair so disheveled and knows he will never let her see it that way purposely. Silently she runs her hand through it, giggling when he stirs and shifts, pulling her closer.

Bree likes seeing like this, so unguarded and peaceful instead of contastly worrying about her. After she can't stand the silence a minute longer, she hesitantly props her body up, her lips ghosting over his ear.

"Thank you."

She doesn't have time to tell if he can hear her words or not, before sleep invading her fuzy mind and pulling her under.

* * *

**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but I think it turned out better than the last one. I still want it to be longer, but wasn't sure what else to put.**

**Review and tell me what you think is gonna happen next. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't know what to say about the cover for this story. The pictures that showed up for the word Speechless had been horrible so I went with insecurity instead and it seemed to fit the most.**

**Anyways, I wrote the beginning of this chapter at like two in the morning (on my iPod), so if it doesn't come out the best, I am sorry.**

* * *

The first thing he sees is a lovely shade of pink. Chase pulls back slightly, groggy and mildly alarmed to see another person sleeping next to him. He smiles, gazing down at Bree's flushed face as he strokes her cheek slowly. Wondering what she could be dreaming about so peacefully. _The first peaceful sleep she's had in a while_, he thinks bitterly, toying with one of her soft strands of hair.

All the events from last night wash over him. Guilt eats away at his stomach for leaving her, not getting there early enough to stop the damage they did. After witnessing Bree being so fragile on the ground, treated so terribly, time blurs and freezes. Like when he's turned into Spike.

The thought of Bree knowing about Spike makes his nerves twist into knots—her knowing about everything that's made him stuck with Spike makes him even more uneasy.

Carefully Chase climbs out of bed and pulls the covers to her chin. Bree sinks into the blankets as he slips out the door and down the hall.

"Well, look whose up," Leo whistles from the kitchen when Chase enters. "You must have had an _amazing time _at the party." The quirky boy makes an exaggerated point of drawling out his sentence to peek irritation of his brother.

Adam switches his stare between the two in confusion. "How? They weren't even drinking or dancing and left early; if anything, their night was lame."

Leo shakes his head, patting Adam on the shoulder in pity. "Don't strain yourself dude—it works on a lot of levels."

"Morning," Tasha greets with a cup of coffee. She turns to Chase following his gaze down the hall. "Honey, should I be concerned there was another body in your bed this morning?"

Chase pauses, his face turning two shades darker. "Some things happened last night, he explains slowly, think his words over. "And Bree needed some help. So I helped her."

"Or something like that Leo pipes up with a sly smirk and smug wink that earns a prompt smack to the shoulder from Chase. "Hey! Rude much..."

Tasha smiles, sipping her coffee. "Bree is a nice, intelligent girl," she exclaims with a casual wink. "I approve. And whether Donald will tell you—so does he."

Chase grins cheerily, staring down at the counter. "So do I," he agrees in a whisper to himself. "So do I."

Quiet footsteps approach everyone looking as she enters. Bree blushes from the attention as she shuffles over to Chase, hiding behind him shyly. He kisses her forehead, grabbing her hand and giving her fingers a slight, comforting squeeze. Bree presses her head against his back, waving with her free hand—no mare than a small flick of her fingers.

"Hey sweetie," Tasha greets gently. "I was about to make some breakfast; do you like pancakes?"

Bree responds with a tiny smile and small nod, finger inching toward her pad. _I love pancakes—chocolate chips ones are the best! _Chase nudges her arm encouragingly when seeing she's hesitating whether to put it on the counter for everyone else to see. Her teeth bite down on the end of her pen as a reflex while everyone reads the words.

Tasha smiles at her warmly and scoot the pad back to her. "I like the chocolate one too; anything chocolate is good for me." Bree giggles at that and nods in agreement. "Would you like to help me make them?"

Bree peeks out of her hiding spot and meets Tasha at the stove. The two get to work quickly, maneuvering around the kitchen with incredible ease. The three brothers sit back and watch in awe as they work, Bree spilling a secret recipe her dad taught her for chocolate pancake mix. Tasha watches her closely, helping her with the stove as she prepares scrambled eggs. Chase focuses on Bree the most, loving how her eyes sparkles as she cooks and hum lightly under her breath.

Another moment from last night hits him right there. Chase beams as he remember how light and gorgeous her voice was (_is)._ So perfectly matching to her appearance and personality—what could possibly keep her from using it?

"How come we didn't have pancakes yesterday?" Leo whines suddenly, bringing him out his thoughts. "Or the before that or the day before that?"

Tasha shakes her head. "You try making pancakes for five people. And we all know that you boys will eats five a piece." She shakes her head, turning to Bree. "I swear, place food in front of them and they turn into complete animals."

"Hey!"

"Rude!"

"Hurtful!"

Bree covers her mouth with her hand to hold back a giggle as the guys pout playfully.

Chase glares at her mockingly. "Should you be sticking up for me?" he slips from his seat and wraps her in his arms. "Right?" His lips curl as he kisses her ear then pulls away, sitting back down.

Bree pushes down her blush and shrugs at him. _Oh well, _she mouths to him with a laugh. Chase rolls his eyes but smiling all the while.

"Can you quit with all the lovely dopey crud?" Leo complains loudly, tossing his head back in annoyance. "If I'm going have pancakes them I want to actually eat them without throwing up because of your make-out sessions. Bree rubs her lips together, taking out her phone and typing fast, eyebrows raising as her phone pings just a fast. With a smirk, Bree promptly leans over and thumps his forehead.

"What was that for?" Leo groans. Bree just smiles innocently before tossing him his phone and going back to flipping pancakes. Leo frowns and glares at her back. "That's just plain mean."

Chase quirks an eyebrow and snatches the phone away from his fuming brother, snickering as he reads the screen

_J, can I hurt ur 'friend'? -Bree_

_By all means, B. Hve while doin it! Lol -Janelle_

Bree smiles and winks at Chase as she deems the pancakes done, and set plates in front of each boy. She twists her face in disgust as they dig in.

"Really good," Tasha compliments as she eats her own plate. Bree grins in respect. "Adding the chocolate and caramel to the mix was a fabulous idea."

Bree scribbles down a reply. _My mom taught my dad so he could teach me. _She smiles sadly and everyone politely ignores her sudden decrease of excitement.

Chase wraps an arm around her torso, letting her pick off their shared place as she stands next to him, his chin resting on her shoulder.

As everyone moves on and chatters about their plans for the day, Bree pokes Chase's chest and points curiously to a man coming the stairs with a bundle of wires in her hand.

"I just—" he freeze mid-sentence at the sight of Bree silently watching him next to Chase, eyeing the bundle suspiciously. "Figured out a how to fix...the remote!" He finishes awkwardly cradling the wires in his arms. Bree just shrugs, trying not to let her curiosity burst.

"That's my husband," Tasha confirms with a nod. "The weird one."

...

"You know you can trust me with anything, right?"

Bree stops twirling her hair to look up at Chase's unreadable expression. She hates when he guards his expressions. Nonetheless, she nods with a small smiling twitching against her lips.

They've had this conversation before. This topic hits a sore spot and Bree rather not bring up why, knowing Chase can sense her discomfort. And she's been in a pretty good mood—strolling through the park at sunset holding your boyfriend's hand, then resting on a hill to just lay and be with each other. It's hard not to enjoy something so romantic.

She avoids his eyes, instead choosing to stare off at the sky with its lovely pale orange color tinted the perfect dark, golden-yellow; amazing.

"Come on," Chase says, standing and helping her up. He leads them down the flower lined path that splits the hill in two. They walk along in silence for a while, steadily avoiding each other's gaze.

Suddenly Bree stops. Chase feels her tug of protest when he keeps walking, so he looks back to see her admiring the purple and blue flowers.

_I've never done this before._

"What?" Chase asks, not seeing where she was going.

Bree sits on the soft grass, bent over as she writes, page after page, only stopping when tears are streaming down her face and her body starts shaking. Chase wraps her in his arm, kissing her head and smoothing her hair, letting her cry and sob until Bree's chest moves up and down in rapid dry heaves.

She leans on him eyes closed as she points to the pad she's thrown in his lap.

_Every guy before you was horrible. They'd cuss and scream and hit me until I started thinking that maybe everything that said was true—no one wants me around. We'd make it to where I have to meet their families and the parents were scary, cruel, and mean. They would say I wasn't raised right, that my parents were horrible people; I was a sin._

_I thought about suicide after the fits and tantrums were over, Janelle always convincing me to stay, that something great would happen. That was only freshman year._

_After that summer, nothing changed except the teasing had gotten worse._

Chase looks up briefly, Bree biting her lip hard and staring at her hands in her lap, refusing for him to see her face.

_Trent and his clones would make their personal mission to torture me everyday. I'd come home with bruises from them beating me to the point there wasn't a place I _wasn't _bleeding. They call me names and tug me hair, saying my voice was horrible and I should just give up talking, no one wanted to hear my screeching._

_I used to talk back then. On the day I stopped, I swore I would talk again someday at my mother's grave. She was the only person that could keep me happy, dead or alive. Dad wasn't around much anymore, her death hitting him hard. He knows I've stopped talking, but he loved my voice. When I was little, my dad told me that my voice was exactly like my mom's when they were younger—that's why I always thought that it was special; I had my momma's voice._

_Then I met you. You talked to me, treated me nice, made me feel human again. You love me, accepted me, something I haven't experienced much before._

_The party ruined me. I was so scared of you that day. Your eyes were gone; you'd turned into one of them. You had Trent's eyes. I should've known that they weren't going to stop whether or not their leader was in jail. It's a never-ending cycle with me trapped in the middle._

Chase stops reading, knowing he's at the end. All the signs come at him at once. He feels his anger pricking, mad he hadn't noticed the signs. Before Trent was shipped to jail, Bree was never relaxed.

God, he has to be the worse boyfriend ever.

Bree examines him carefully, unsure if he's going to explode or worse. She used to think they're was nothing worse than exploding; she knows there is now.

He kisses her. Their lips connect in a fiery passion. Hands roaming, Bree toppling backwards and tangling their legs together. Chase grabs at her hair, tongues dancing with each other as they moan. He pulls away, teeth nipping at her skin as he hold her arms to her side.

Bree groans and squirm, pleasure tingling her spine and sending amazing chills through her body at his touch. Chase kisses her neck, his lips curling against her skin. The air is silent as they pull away breathing heavily. Bree's eyes are shining and it struck her how they're in a park.

Thank God no one's around.

"I love you," Chase murmurs in her ear, his fingers skimming down her arms.

Bree looks up at him, panting, eyes glittering in the dim light.

"Chase."

...

He can't think straight. It's been days since Bree said his name yet, he elated feeling still pounds in his chest. "My God," he whispers to himself, careful not to wake Bree up as he starts pacing the floor. His clocks glares at him, warning him to get back to bed, saying it's too late to be thinking about this now.

Chase stops, turning and smiling at Bree as she turns, unaffected by him leaving the bed. It's become their usual routine now. She sleeps over, stealing his pants and shirts, convinced he's the key to having the nightmare stop.

Not that he disagrees with that.

He finally groans, running a tired hand through his hair. Chase really needs to get some sleep Something has to be wrong with him for having a feeling last this long. Maybe he's going insane.

Bree stirs, muttering a long string of incoherent grumbles as she hugs a pillow to her chest. Chase smirks, stroking her cheek. It's impossible for someone to be this adorable when sleeping, he concludes as he slips back into bed, fulling aware of Bree instantly cuddling back into him.

God he loves her.

...

"That is so cute!" Janelle gushes with a hand over her heart. Chase and Bree, along with a grumbling Leo, are sitting in Janelle's living room with Chase telling her about their night in the park. She turns to Leo, flicking him in the head.

"Ow!" he cries out, glaring at her. "What'd I do?"

She glares back, crossing her arms over her chest. "You were never that romantic." Janelle looks off, thinking back to when they'd briefly dated. "And all you did was tried to get this." She gestures her hands up and down her body.

Leo grumbles out a response that consists of his thought on girls and their violent streaks. Bree and Janelle share a look before smacking both his shoulders

"Ow! Again!" He rubs his shoulders and look off in thought. "Ever since you two started dating—" He point at how Bree sits in between Chase's legs on the floor against the couch—"I've been suffering. Maybe a plan of breaking you two up would save me some bruises."

Chase leans up and punches Leo's leg. "Don't even joke," he threatens.

"What is this, Pick On Leo day or something?"

* * *

**I thoughy this story need to be lightened, so I added a bit of humor but kept the romance you guys seem to love.**

**And should, I put an epilouge? Or at least extend this to a sixth chapter? I need you guys to say whether yes, you want an extra chapter, or no it should be a five-shot forever.**

**So please review and tell me if you like this chapter :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. I have made a decision on the there being a sixth chapter thing. Depending on how the last chapter plays out, there might be an epilogue, but I am coming out with a new one-shot revolving around Bree and Chase and that's all I'm giving away about it for now.**

* * *

Bree eyes her surroundings carefully. It's her first day back to school since the party and everything is putting her on edge. She taps her pencil against the lunch table, waiting for Chase and the others to show.

"Hey you," a voice whispers in her ear, lips pecking her own.

Her shoulders tense as Chase claims the seat next to her. It feels like everyone is watching her critically, taking note of her every move. And for all she knew maybe they were; no one ever talked to the mute girl, and sometimes, she missed how normal everything was when she wasn't the center of attention.

Chase nudges her arm, snapping Bree's attention back to him. Noticing the lack of curls and comic books, Bree shoot Chase a look.

"Janelle dragged Leo off to God knows where," he explains, stealing a salty cucumber from her tray. "She said it was 'majorly important' and that 'he just _had _to help her with it'." Chase winks and leans in closely. "I really think she wanted an excuse to make-out with him without anybody around."

Bree smiles and giggles cutely, feeling happy for the first time she arrived at school.

"What's up?" Chase points out her smile, noticing how it doesn't reach her frantic eyes as she looks from table to table. "Why are you so jumpy?"

Bree shrugs, her shoulders barely lifting. _Can you help me with something?_

At his nod, Bree licks her lips, trying to find the exact words to fit her request. Squirming her seat, she starts tapping out a random beat again, distracting herself from answering the question..._talking again? Helping me?_

Chase takes in the nervous scribble, the ink blending into odd blob-like lines. "Uh—I mean...sure, why not?"

With the air awkward, Bree tries to smiles, pecking him lips in thanks.

...

"Why would she need your help talking again?" Leo pops open his soda can, staring Chase down hard.

"Dude." Chase shakes his head, swiping some chips from the open bag on the counter. "Do you really think her confidence level is high enough for her to speak without a little practice? She's told us—don't give me that look, you know what I mean—about what's been going on and how she's not saying anything in the first place."

Leo clicks his tongue against his cheek. "Your woman, your problems," he decides, taking a longer swig a pop before burping loudly. "But just to let you know, Janelle is_ not _going to be happy when she hears Bree came to you first." At chase's quizzical look, he sighs in annoyance. "And I thought you are supposed to be the smart one? Anyway, Bree and Janelle have been friends for a couple years—she's tried getting her to open. But Bree asked you first. Therefor, Janelle will unleash her wrath while kicking you in private places."

Chase cringes at the thought, leaping from his seat to answer the door. "Hey," he greets to Bree's wave. Grinning handsomely, he swipes down to place as kiss on her lips, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer.

"Trying not to swallow my sister-in-law's face would be awesome," Leo pipes from his spot in the kitchen.

Pulling away, Bree glares, the effect ruined by the heat creeping up her neck. Chase smirks, pulling her even closer, their chests touching as he whispers, "You know, maybe someday that dream will be a reality."

Blushing even darker, Bree ducks her head and grabs ahold of his arms, dragging him to her room with Leo hollering taunts to their disappearing figures.

She flops on to the bed, sinking into the soft sheets as Chase shuts the door, crawling over her and trailing kisses up and down her jaw. Giggling slightly, feeling ticklish from his fingers touching the exposed skin from her tank riding up.

Chase curls his lips into the kiss—distracting her from getting back to the task at hand. He tangles his hands in to her hair pulling her closer as kisses down her neck. Both panting, Bree breaks away, staring up at him with her wide innocent eyes.

Oh God. That's how he remembers falling in love—her eyes. So sparkling and innocent, mesmerizing him to new lengths. Slowly, he runs a hand down the side of her face, cupping her cheek.

Bree tries to sit, a task proving itself difficult with her boyfriend determined to have her lay on the bed forever with him. In quick actions, her arms darts up, grabbing ahold of the collar on his shirt and dragging his on top of her again. A moan catches in her throat as she quickly flips them, pulling in triumph as she rests on top of his chest.

Chase pouts, knowing they are moving on. But he doesn't know how to move on; he's taught someone how to speak before. The pressure of Bree's eagerness both excites him about the glory of where their future is headed—and racks his nerves to new levels of anxiety on how it would all out, whether he can do it.

_You need to have faith in yourself._

He blinks, pushing the pad away from his face to stare up at Bree. She has a sad smile, far more interested playing with his shirt collar than meeting his eyes. With a long sigh, she continues writing, focusing on the words as a way to stall her eyes from meeting his.

_I have faith in you. I wouldn't have asked you to help if I didn't. And I have faith in myself. I wouldn't have even considered the idea of learning if I didn't. Now you need in faith in me—faith in yourself._

Chase looks away from the pad to meet her clouded eyes, dazed as she tries to figure out what he's thinking, how's he's calculating the situation.

"I have faith in you," he whispers, sitting Bree in his lap as he sits up properly. Chase pulls her close, burying his face in her neck. "I have faith."

...

"Just keep repeating it until you're comfortable with the way it sounds."

Bree screws her lips to the side, taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly. Staring at wall blankly as she recites the alphabet as slowly as she could. It was Chase's idea—thinking that starting with alphabet seemed like as good a place as any when starting with words.

He has a list—or maybe notes, she can't be sure—about how this is going. After two and a half hours, Bree thinks this has to be the most work she's done in the entire year. And that she can't know what he thinks of her process is settling on top of her moodiness.

Leo warned her, she muses, just uttering a shuddering 'L' as she taps her fingers on her thigh. He had warned her about how seriously Chase took tutoring and any type of work; she figured she could have gotten off easier with the girlfriend card.

Apparently not.

Bree finishes with a slight stutter, closing her eyes and replaying her performance over and wincing at how rocky it sounded.

"That was a good start," Chase praises, pecking her lips. "Why don't we try a few more things and then call it quits for today. Okay with you?"

Nodding happily, she waits for his instructions patiently, eyeing the clipboard in his hands carefully. Chase mutters to himself, like forgetting she's in the room as he flips through the papers. It curiosity eats away at her from not knowing. Bree nearly yells out, her patience thinning and nerves increasing as she taps her boot against the carpet to keep herself from doing so, biting her bit all the while.

"Okay," Chase clears his throat, finally looking back at her. "So far, so good. Now that you can speak letters again, trying doing that out loud once in a while for some practice, like when your here at home. Sound good?"

Bree just nods, feeling like she's with a doctor more than her boyfriend. _A__nything that helps_, she thinks blankly, tilting her head as he rattles on as he runs a hand through his hair.

"How about starting on greetings next? Then names after?"

Again, she nods, a list of names to say and not say. When she reaches the T's, she cringes from memory and tries to suppress before it can take over her again.

Chase slips a half piece of paper on her lap, two different columns on it. One labeled 'Greetings' and the second one 'Farewells'.

Bree draws in a deep breath before shaking reading off the first one on each list, her words slightly slurred as she stares down at the list in concentration. Chase nods along, scribbling down notes that Bree's convinced she'll never see as long as he has it.

She finishes, tossing the list next her and falling back on to the bed.

"Great job," Chase comments, slipping next to her and kissing her neck, feeling the skin heat up on contact. "Now say my name."

"Chase," Bree breathes out steadily, no stutter or distinct slur to the words like the other from the past couple of hours.

"Keep going," he whispers encouragingly, squeezing her hand as Bree closes her eyes, gulping as she continues listing off all the names in her life.

...

"Are you staying for dinner, hun?" Tasha asks, Bree place at the table already set along with everyone else's.

Bree nods, Chase pulling her down into the seat next to him. she surveys the room quietly, taking in the horror move Donald and Leo watch in the living as Adam plays with sock puppets. She shakes her head in disbelief.

"I don't get my family as much as you do," Chase whispers in her ear, causing her to giggle out loud. She pulls away enough to peck him lips.

"Thank you," Bree whispers gratefully, making sure no one could hear except for him.

"No problem," Chase smirks back, pulling her on to his lap and kissing her slowly, asking for entrance that she grants instantly. Just as his fingers start tugging on her hair, someone clears their throat.

"Swallowing her face won't make you any less hungry," Leo points out with a wave of his fork. Tasha shoots him a stern look.

Bree sees how all the Davenport's are watching, so she quietly sneaks back to her own seat.

"Yeah, it's not funny," Donald agrees, even though his facial expression gives away that he thought it was hilarious.

"Bree has a surprise for us," Chase announces suddenly, squeezing her hand under the table. Bree give him a look, trying to tell him that she wasn't ready. Too late to back out now, they were all staring, waiting for her continue what has already been started.

"Hi ya," she says quietly, following shaky words with a tiny wave.

everything seems to stop. Tasha freezes on her trip back from the kitchen, food in hand and ready to serve. The boys just stare at her, their slack jaws and bugged out eyes seeming funny to her.

"What a surprise," Tasha says cheerfully, her pep back in her step. "A very lovely surprise. We're so proud of you dear—your teacher must've been excellent." She shoots Chase a look. "Step by step, step by step."

Bree grins shyly, agreeing. Tasha's always been so nice to her, a feeling she's never been used to. The motherly role in her life vacant, her and her father living off of each other.

_Step by step, step by step..._

Words to live by.

...

"This is incredible!" Janelle squeals excitedly, crushing Bree into a huge hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Trying to kill my girlfriend would be nice," Chase laughs from his desk, watching the two girls pull away.

Janelle glares at him, walking closer and wagging her index finger in his face. "You and I are going to have words, Mister."

Chase looks away and to the side for help, only have Leo shrug and simply follow with a, "I tried to warn you." The boy glances between the clock and the door, willing the teacher to walk through the door instead of being fifteen minutes late like usual.

Bree doesn't even try to hid her laughter, giggling crazily at her friends' antics. She settles herself on to Chase's lap, intertwining their hands together as his arms hug her from behind.

She's aware of all the whispering, the envious glances as girls take in their closeness with each other.

"You two are offically the newest 'It' Couple," Janelle reports with a smirk, waving her phone in their faces to confirm it. "But I can't say I'm surprised; you're also the school's longest, most commited couple."

Chase raises an eyebrow, looking at her from where his head is on Bree's shoulder. "How can that be? We've only been together for a little less than two months?"

Janelle just shrugs, slipping her phone away. "Our school previous couples were never good with sticking with each other." She kicks Leo's leg, hopping on top of her desk. "Although, it's mostly the _boys _who screw it up for the girls, anyway."

"What are you talking?" Leo cries. "I gave you an awesome birthday present when we were together."

"Correction: You gave me a present _three days after _my birthday. And it was a candy necklace. Missing half the candy."

"I'm a growing boy—I can't help it when I see candy."

"How long were you wo even together?" Chase asks curiously, interrupting the two's bickering.

They each just shrug, chiming together, "Four weeks."

...

He cannot believe this is happening. He should have seen the signs, been more worried about the way she was acting. Doing something—_anything_—so that it didn't have to come down to this.

Everyone sits in the hospital waiting room, anticipating the doctor's news. Chase paces the floor, too antsy to just sit and wait. The Davenports were their too, Janelle sobbing loudly into Leo's shoulder; Tasha crying quietly; Donald putting on a brave face; Adam just sitting and staring into space blankly; Leo bouncing his leg nervously.

Chase should've done more when Bree blew off their lessons. She had been doing so well—did well at convincing him she was fine.

When Bree's anything but.

Now she's laying in a room somewhere with God-knows-what is going through her viens and Chase s left here feeling completely helpless.

"She told she was afraid of this happening," Janelle speaks up quietly, gaining the enitre groups attention. "At first, I tried to talk her out of not speaking becuase she could ruin her health over a thing she could get help on. But when she just stopped, I looked up what could happen if it went on for too long...she never meant for this to happen to you."

She gestures to Chase, flinching as he starts to breath heavy, his fist connecting with the wall.

"I should've seen it," he growls under his breath. "I knew she hadn't been acting right, lately."

Silence takes hold, crying and sobbing contrasting with it. Chase squeezes his eyes shut, trying to make the world drown away and escape, escpae to where Bree's fine and in his arms, telling him she loves him.

"Breeanne C.?"

Everyone stands, anxiously awaiting what the doctor will say as she flips through her clipboard with a grim epression and tired eyes.

"I'm afraid I'll have to inform you that Breeanne has Lung Cancer."

* * *

**Sorry, but I had to give you guys a cliffie. How do you think the last chapter will act out? Any suggestions for how Chase should respond to the news?**

**Review and tell me you thought lovelies. :)**

**PS: Be on the look for my next Lab Rats one-shot that should come in a week or so.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey. So this is the last chapter. I'm both excited and sad for this story to end. But like I said, I'm coming out a new one-shot revolving around Bree and Chase, so be on the lookout for that coming out soon after this chapter gets updated. I've started doing the disclaimer again if anybody tries to bite my head from me doing it in a while.**

**Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah, I don't own the characters or the show...**

* * *

Chase repeats the doctor's words over and over, sounding worse every time.

_"The surgery has never gone wrong before. It's more Laryngeal Cancer than anything. Refusal of speaking maybe the cause, but we won't know until running a few tests."_

Those three sentences run on a continuous loop as he waits for Bree to awaken. Chase refuses to leave her side, his face in her neck with his arm draped across her torso.

Bree looks so much different and it's scaring him. She's more pale, her body tiny under the pristine white sheets.

The door creaks open, shutting seconds later. Chase doesn't even bother looking, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the pile of small Teddy bears, cards, and balloons. Bree's only been out for two days, but it's felt like centuries.

A beefy nurse invades his view, messing with the ivy connecting to Bree's arm. She stirs, mumbling something inaudible. The nurse shrugs down at the hopeless boy, not getting his hopes up. He slips out of the room, leaving Bree and Chase alone again. In an eerie silence Chase crawls off her and sits in the chair beside her hospital bed, taking her pale hand in his own, giving it a squeeze.

Sometimes she'd flinch and cower, like when having a bad nightmare. Nothing eases Chase about it, not when the doctor informs that's it a part of her concussion. The fact that his girlfriend is possibly living in a constant day nightmare the longer she remains unconscious weighs him down.

It's a foggy Sunday morning that Chase nearly breaks down. His eyes are wide and bloodshot, the side effect from him not sleeping well. He can't, knowing this is his fault. His appearance matches his hysterical behavior—another effect from a horrible sleepless state.

"Please quit doing this to me," Chase begs, clutching her hand tightly, praying for her to squeeze back—to show him some sign of hearing him.

He gives up, flipping her hand palm up to show him the universal answer to everything he's tried to do: _No. _The blue ink is fading, but still screams the answer and clear at him as he trudges to the bathroom.

And God does he look _awful._

The dirty mirror lets an insane person stare back. His eyes are more puffy than he expected, his face looking as dry and cracked as it felt with the dry tear trails stringing down his cheeks. Splashing some cold water on to his face, Chase leans over the sink, his biceps tightening as he grips ahold of the sink's edge.

Chase lets out a scream.

He takes advantage of the loneliness, hollering everything that was wrong at the top of his lungs, not caring anymore.

Without Bree, he has no reason to care about anything.

...

When waking up, the light is blinding. Bree instantly snaps her eyes shut again, sitting and preferring the darkness as she waits for the light effect to stop. Or maybe it wasn't the light, perhaps the absurd amount of a glaring white it what makes the massive headache prod at her behind her eyes. In a desperate attempt to make it clear, she rubs two fingers on her temples, her eyes shut.

She hears a scream. Bree curls into a ball, sinking herself into the sheets on instinct, it being an old reflex she isn't proud of having. Her hair covers her fall like a thick greasy curtain; her whole body feels like it's covered in flimsy coat of grime and dirt.

Bree's never felt this way before. Slowly opening her eyes keeps everything a bright blur, the walls and ceiling mixing until there one, no difference between the two. Bree blinks, impatient for it to clear, desperate to have a look at the room.

And she needs water. One of the first things Bree notices is that her throat is abnormally dry and her mouth like cotton. Coughing, her hands reach out blindly, trying to connect with a table of some sort (and hopefully a cup of water, too.)

Running footsteps erupt after a loud bang from a door crashing into a wall on her left. Bree flinches—another horrible instinct.

"Oh my God."

The voice is soft, so familiar it pains Bree not to remember. But her guilt is overpowered by a sudden spike of pleasure shooting through her limbs as hungry lips smash on to hers. Hands pin her shoulders to the stuffy mattress, a body keeping her down.

Moans exchange, eager fingers slipping—touching, prodding—at skin, lips traveling. Bree closes her eyes again, the instant rush sending her over the edge as teeth nipped at her throat.

"Chase…"

Chase pulls back, his eyes wide as he cupped her cheek. Bree looks up at him through half-lidded eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I've been waiting for that for so long," Chase groans, kissing her cheek, trailing down her jaw. "I've missed you so much."

They continue for a while, taking advantage of their greediness and the silence, kissing and gasping heavily.

"I see you're—I-I'm sorry for intruding…"

Bree pushes Chase away, both whipping around the see a flustered doctor (obviously new, enough though the politely ignored the fact for her sake).

"Where's Dr. Seth?" Chase asks instead as he pushes himself off and maneuvers to the chair again. He feels his face heat up, turning darker and darker at getting caught. "Isn't she supposed to be taking be up to some tests by now?"

The new doctor—more blonde and younger than Dr. Seth, and more fidgeting too—fiddles with the metal name tag on her crisp white coat: Dr. Honey.

"She had an emergency surgery…" She trails off, uncertain to leave it at that or not. "But I'll be taking Breeanne to her tests. She'll have to do a few before actually going through the surgery."

Bree freezes, her hearing slipping after hearing her full name in a while. She grips Chase's arms, her nail digging in to his skin in fear as she stares at him with her wide brown eyes.

Chase smiles at her sadly, kissing her forehead. "It's okay," he assures her. "Talk with the doctor and  
I'll be right back in when she gets out."

Sensing that she's still a hesitant, Chase adds a soft, "I promise" to the end of his words, smiling back at her as he walks out the door.

…

"It going to be fine," Chase promises, kissing her temple as Bree twitches anxiously.

_You don't know that! _Bree scrawls out on the mini white board the hospital is kindly letting her use. Dr. Seth hadn't said whether it was safe for her to talk, and she's not going to risk it and make things worse. _What if they accidentally cut something they didn't have a right to cut? What do you have to say to that?_

Chase exhales slowly, moving closer so the two are squeezed together on the hospital bed. "I swear to God you'll be fine," he says again into her hair.

Bree presses her lips together and gives him a look, her fear leaking out along with her stubbornness. _I'm scared. Just because they didn't mess up all the other times doesn't mean they can't mess up with me._

"When you get out of that surgery, I promise you that you will be as good as new and we can pick up where we leave off: Getting the love of my life talking to me again."

Bree just tries to blink away tears and curls herself into Chase's chest, taking his hands and trying to ignore her growling stomach; stupid doctors' orders of not eating.

She's never liked hospitals or what happened in them. The only other time she'd ever been there with a coma-slash-concussion—or whatever Dr. Seth is calling it—was when Bree had banged her head on the stairs by falling when she was seven, and even then she loathed the greasy texture of her hair and the level of grime that itched on her body.

"Knock, knock," Dr. Seth exclaims from the door, taking in the site of the two teenagers cuddling on the bed. The corners of her mouth twitch up in a small smile—sometimes it moments like these that pay off from being away from her family on late hours. "I'm afraid it's time to go."

Bree shuts her eyes, instantly misses Chase's warmth as he gets off, watching carefully as male nurses come in to wheel her away.

The last image of her he has for hours is Bree's terrified eyes begging, pleading with him as they wheel her bed out of the room.

…

"Quit telling me to calm down!" Janelle snaps again. It's no use trying to calm her down now—she'll happily bite your head off if you even attempt to do so. "The bestest friend in the entire world to me may be _dying in there _for all I know! And I'm _left out here in the dirt_!" She angrily stomps her foot and points down the hall to the doors where Bree had disappeared to.

Chase sighs, rubbing his temples in vain to keep in control. The worst possible thing to happen would be having Spike break loose and go on a fuming rampage, getting thrown out of the hospital and not keeping his promise to Bree.

That's only the worst case scenario. The best case scenario would have Spike break loose and everyone backing off because of their fear to him.

Leo finally jerks Janelle into the seat beside him, speaking to her in a hushed, stern tone that includes a lot of overdramatic hand gestures in Chase's direction.

Janelle isn't happy when Leo stops—her obvious fuming on display on her face and in her stiff, heavy breathing posture—but she shuts up all the same.

Adam shrugs. "Maybe this was supposed to happen."

It takes both Leo and Chase to keep Janelle from tackling the tall idiot from his waiting chair and beating to the pulp.

"You think Bree's SUPPOSED TO BE HERE?! You everyone's SUPPOSED to be on EDGE?!" She shrieks at the top of her lungs, her hands extended forward like claws. "Well then maybe I'm SUPPOSED to _clawing your eyes out!"_

Chase is tempted to let her do so, wanting to do it himself.

Adam ignores Janelle's insane threats with another shrug. "Maybe we're supposed to feel pain before happiness. You know, like the calm before the snow?"

Chase gapes in surprise, completely dropping Janelle's lower half—and stepping over Leo and Janelle's sprawled limbs that drop to the floor. "That has to be the smartest thing you've said since you were born," he continues to gape, ignoring the fact he got the saying wrong.

"My reward could be a cow?" the taller one tries, looking hopeful only to deflate at his brother's weird look.

"Whatever," Chase mutters bitterly, kicking at the tile floor as Leo and Janelle untangle from their sprawl on the floor and scramble to their chairs. "I just hope you're as right as all the times you're wrong."

They sit in silence for a while, watching nurses' wheel carts or patients by. A phone rings repeatedly at the lousy secretary at the front desk.

It's a while that they sit in a deafening silence until a broad middle-aged man walks up to the sorrowful group with a clipboard in hand. "Breeanne C.?"

"Why are they always switching doctors?" Leo complains as they stand. Chase just wishes that Donald and Tasha were around for more information. "Can't they just stick to one once in while?"

The man smiles but it doesn't seem to reach his eyes. "My partner is Dr. Seth..." He trails off, flipping through some papers. "At the patient's ask, visitors are being held off for another hour or so."

It takes all three of the boys to keep Janelle off the doctor.

...

"It honestly doesn't look that bad," Chase tries for millionth time to convince Bree.

"You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to lie to me to keep me happy," she retorts. She's been out of the hospital for a while now, the ugly black stitches bonded together on her throat gone with a fresh, ugly, and long scar in its trace.

Chase, despite his girlfriend's worrying, smiles and wraps his arms around her waist from behind her. He's just glad that everything is coming together again—Bree's old habits of talking returning one word at a time.

"Can you please stop obsessing with yourself in the mirror?" he begs jokingly, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You're going to gain the Leo's habits if you keep it up."

Bree giggles slightly, but the sound is strained as she runs a tentative finger over her throat, cringing at the slight rise of the it. "Fine," she mumbles bitterly as she turns and marches to his bed.

she watches through half-lidded eyes as Chase simply slips off his shirt. Bree avoids his eyes—her lap being a better thing to stare at then his toned chest. Instead of responding to the dip of the bed when he crawls in, she picks at the frayed hem of one his old shirts, it dropping to her knees like a nightgown.

"I love you," Chase whispers, covering them both with the sheets. He places a stray lock of hair behind her ear as Bree listens along to his heartbeat.

"I love you too," Bree says back, the words no longer feeling like a foreign tumble in her mouth, instead a smooth honest trail of used words still holding their honest meaning.

Chase's heart pounds in his chest as Bree snuggles closer, eager for a better listen. These are her favorite moments between the two—just them, enjoying each other's company without anyone else around. Bree's never been this far, never felt the type of powerful emotions that Chase gives her. Because no one's ever hung around long enough for her to experience it.

"Thanks," Bree whispers hoarsely, looking into Chase's eyes. They show her—both orbs clear and reflective.

He leans down, his lips faintly brushing against the skin on her forehead that gives her a shiver. "Why are you thanking me?"

Bree grips his arms, slinging them around her torso, nuzzling his neck. "For being with me," she whispers, salty tears pricking at the edge of her eyes. "No one's ever stuck around me for this long."

"I'm not just anybody," Chase whispers back, the two as close as possible. "And no one else saw your beauty the way I do."

Bree looks up at him through her lashes childishly. "Do you really mean that? Cross your heart and hope to die, stick a needle in our eye?"

Chase laughs, the sound rumbling through his chest. "It'd be impossible for me _not_ to mean it," he declares before swooping down to capture her lips in a kiss.

* * *

**A very cheesy ending to a very beautiful story. :)**

**Anyway, I don't think I'm going to do an Epilogue because I truly think that's an awesome place to leave the story. And judging by all the reviews, I received for the last chapter, you guys were excited for this chapter as I was to write it.**

**So please leave a review and tell me what you think. And also, leave a comment on whether I should do another Bree/Chase story, like a one-shot or two-shot. Please and thank you, lovelies. :)**


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